Members of the equidae family (referred to herein as equidae), in particular domestic horses, are routinely shod with flat and relatively inflexible shoes of metal, plastic or the like. These horses, as a result, are many times plagued with various problems of lameness. Many of these problems are directly or indirectly related to the rigidity and non-resilience of shoes without shock absorption characteristics.
Shoes (e.g., horseshoes) protect the hooves of equidae against injury and add traction for a smoother stride. Further, if shoes are made of a resilient, flexible material, they can also absorb shock and provide cushioning to equidae hooves. In the past, a number of different shoes have been developed, which provide a cushion for hooves of equidae. In many of these shoes, a cushion has been provided by merely placing leather, rubber or even plastic pads in a variety of embodiments between the hoof and the metal shoe.
However, the presence of a uniform resilient material between the hoof and the metal shoe may not have sufficient shock absorbing characteristics. Further, a shoe made only of a uniform resilient material, such as rubber, may cause the shoe or nails, used to attach the shoe, to vibrate loose such that the shoe may slide on the hoof or separate from the hoof completely. Thus, there exists a need for an equidae shoe having sufficient shock absorbing characteristics and fabricated from a resilient material in such a manner that nails or adhesive do not vibrate loose causing the shoe to loosen, slide or completely separate from the hoof.
Typically, conventional metal shoes may not provide good traction for the equidae, can devastate vegetation when it's walked upon by equidae in some situations, are typically not lightweight, and generally do not provide protection to the frog and other parts of the underside of equidae hooves. Therefore, an improved shoe, which is fabricated from a lightweight resilient material, is needed to provide good traction and shock absorbance, less damage to vegetation, and protection to the underside of the horse's hoof. These and other objectives are obtained by the present invention.